I name my S&W revolvers.

Some may think it's a little silly to name a gun. I suspect I may have got the notion to name a gun from watching Disney's "Davy Crockett" series with Fess Parker back in the 50's. At that time, most of us boys had a coonskin cap and a toy rifle named 'Betsy.' So even today I give some of my guns a name. With that, let me introduce you to my S&W ladies: Nikki, Kitty, Polly, Maggie, and Bertha.

Below are pictures of the ladies in my Smith & Wesson harem.

Nikki
4th Model "Pocket Pistol"
.32 S&W
Mfr date: 188?
I bought Nikki from a pard at a Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) match to be used in the pocket pistol side matches. Before I bought her, this ~130-year-old lady had been recently nickeled with hammer and trigger blued. She also appears to have got some new grip panels. Nikki may have a few years on her, but she's looking good now!




Kitty
Model 34-1 "Kit Gun"
.22 Long Rifle
Mfr date: 1978
I bought Kitty brand new in 1978 for my wife to shoot. Kitty has a little honest wear on her from being carried during camping and hunting trips. Kitty here is shown with her original grip panels, but I replaced those originals with Altamont grips as I felt her original grips a bit too small. Either way, she's a joy to carry and shoot.




Polly
Model 15-4 "Combat Masterpiece"
.38 Special
Mfr date: 1980
I just got Polly a few days ago to replace a 15-3 I had let go back in 1973. Back in the days before the big migration to semi-autos, the "Combat Masterpiece" was the revolver carried by many police officers and the US Air Force issued many Model 15s to pilots and airmen. Possibly the Model 15 is the finest .35 Special revolver ever made.





Maggie
Model 19-3 "Combat Magnum"
.357 Magnum
Mfr date: 1972
I bought Maggie in October, 2016. Always admired the "Combat Magnum" and finely broke down and bought one. I don't think I've ever shot any handgun better than Maggie. She is deadly! What an absolutely excellent revolver is the Model 19; possibly the pinnacle of all S&W revolvers.





Bertha
Model 625-9 "Mountain Gun"
.45 Colt
Mfr date: 2005
Bertha is my biggest handgun on that S&W N frame. My wife gave me Bertha as a gift in late 2005. I had mentioned that since I reloaded .45 Colt rounds for Cowboy Action Shooting, I would like to have a S&W double-action revolver in .45 Colt and use it as my night stand gun. She asked me, "Wouldn't the Rossi (2-inch barrel .38 Special) you keep in the night stand stop the bad guys?" I told her, "Yes Doll, it probably would stop them, but a .45 would have them going the other direction!" I get a lot of fun shooting my Cowboy loads though Bertha, but at home she is loaded with stouter factory rounds while sitting in my night stand. I'm going to dress her up some with new Altamont grips that I now have on order.





Well friends, there's my little harem of S&W double-action revolvers. Not the biggest S&W revolver collection, but I sure get pleasure from these ladies, and I've given them all a name.

God bless,
Birdgun

Never gave a thought to giving them names, other than those given by the factory.

Birdgun said:

Some may think it's a little silly to name a gun. I suspect I may have got the notion to name a gun from watching Disney's "Davy Crockett" series with Fess Parker back in the 50's. At that time, most of us boys had a coonskin cap and a toy rifle named 'Betsy.' So even today I give some of my guns a name. With that, let me introduce you to my S&W ladies: Nikki, Kitty, Polly, Maggie, and Bertha.

Below are pictures of the ladies in my Smith & Wesson harem.

Nikki
4th Model "Pocket Pistol"
.32 S&W
Mfr date: 188?
I bought Nikki from a pard at a Cowboy Action Shooting (CAS) match to be used in the pocket pistol side matches. Before I bought her, this ~130-year-old lady had been recently nickeled with hammer and trigger blued. She also appears to have got some new grip panels. Nikki may have a few years on her, but she's looking good now!

Kitty
Model 34-1 "Kit Gun"
.22 Long Rifle
Mfr date: 1978
I bought Kitty brand new in 1978 for my wife to shoot. Kitty has a little honest wear on her from being carried during camping and hunting trips. Kitty here is shown with her original grip panels, but I replaced those originals with Altamont grips as I felt her original grips a bit too small. Either way, she's a joy to carry and shoot.

Polly
Model 15-4 "Combat Masterpiece"
.38 Special
Mfr date: 1980
I just got Polly a few days ago to replace a 15-3 I had let go back in 1973. Back in the days before the big migration to semi-autos, the "Combat Masterpiece" was the revolver carried by many police officers and the US Air Force issued many Model 15s to pilots and airmen. Possibly the Model 15 is the finest .35 Special revolver ever made.

Maggie
Model 19-3 "Combat Magnum"
.357 Magnum
Mfr date: 1972
I bought Maggie in October, 2016. Always admired the "Combat Magnum" and finely broke down and bought one. I don't think I've ever shot any handgun better than Maggie. She is deadly! What an absolutely excellent revolver is the Model 19; possibly the pinnacle of all S&W revolvers.

Bertha
Model 625-9 "Mountain Gun"
.45 Colt
Mfr date: 2005
Bertha is my biggest handgun on that S&W N frame. My wife gave me Bertha as a gift in late 2005. I had mentioned that since I reloaded .45 Colt rounds for Cowboy Action Shooting, I would like to have a S&W double-action revolver in .45 Colt and use it as my night stand gun. She asked me, "Wouldn't the Rossi (2-inch barrel .38 Special) you keep in the night stand stop the bad guys?" I told her, "Yes Doll, it probably would stop them, but a .45 would have them going the other direction!" I get a lot of fun shooting my Cowboy loads though Bertha, but at home she is loaded with stouter factory rounds while sitting in my night stand. I'm going to dress her up some with new Altamont grips that I now have on order.

Well friends, there's my little harem of S&W double-action revolvers. Not the biggest S&W revolver collection, but I sure get pleasure from these ladies, and I've given them all a name.

God bless,
Birdgun

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I'd name them too if they were as pretty as those guns are.

I have to admit that when I first started collecting--single shot rifles at the time--I gave each of them names. A few years later I needed to let them all go for financial reasons. It was pretty painful at the time. Since then I still name my cars, boats, etc. but not my guns. But, it was easier to say "I'm taking Henry to the range today" than it was to say "I'm taking the model one and a half Remington rolling block to the range today." So, I'm on you side on this one.

Names

I don't name my guns but since this one came with a name on it I guess I'll continue to call it "Mammy"

Masterbuck54

"Mother" - a 12 gauge pump for home self-defense.

I have been known to sometimes call my guns names, is that the same thing?

Nice looking firearms. As for the names ,,, ahhhh ???

They're beautiful...especially Nikki!

I never named my handguns, but have named all 9 motorcycles in the collection...
Piglet (my old H-D Sportster)
Grace (my old H-D Shovelhead)
Hugger (girlfriend's Sportster)
Jerry (girlfriend's springer softail)
Limey (green British bike)
Bonnie (girlfriend's British bike)
Alf (my other British bike)
Checca (girlfriend's Italian bike)
Minxie (girlfriend's daughter's little 250)

It does make it easier when you're talking about which bike you're taking out or what maintenance needs to be done on any particular bike.

Right now the Smiths are all called by numbers; the 617, the 640, the 686, and the 629. My son's two Sigs are just called the Sigs and the Beretta is the Beretta or the 92. Hmmmmm...maybe there's just a little more personality in a motorcycle to play word games with.

I dont find this odd, I would just not put it in print. But you are brave. By the way, I knew all those girls, and married a few.

The only gun Ive named is my 460 12". Her name is Liberty

I have only named one gun and that was a recent purchase that is not a S&W. It has three letters and three numbers in the serial number. The three numbers were 666 and nobody wanted it. So I got it at a reduced price even though it was brand new. I named it “Beelzebub”.

I've called mine a few names. Usually after missing a shot or losing a match But can't repeat them here.

Very nice group of guns you have there.

Over the years I've known a number of people who named their guns.
First one I remember named his carry gun, which I think was a Colt Detective Special, "Roscoe." I thought that was clever until I learned "Roscoe" is an old nickname for any carry gun.
Much more recently a friend named his nickel-plated Colt 1911 GM "Gladys", from the move "Sin City." I kinda liked that, and one our Charming Children calls one of MY Colt 1911s "Gladys," though it is plain blue with Hogue grips and Novak low-mount sights.

The first gun *I* named was a Para Ordnance I built from a kit. After all the work it took me to overcome my initial errors, and I had installed a NM barrel, a chamber-loaded indicator, had the action tuned by a gunsmith, installed customized grips and Novak high-profile sights, I figured nothing that received so much attention could be anything but a pet so I named it "Fluffy."

Number two was a Sig Sauer P228. It was plain-Jane and upon advice of colleagues I did some mods. I sent it to Novak for low-mount night sights and their "Carry and Reliability Package." Then I got some wood grips from Germany and a friend fitted them to it. The tritium sights inspired the name: "Spot."

Fluffy is long gone, sold to someone else by the person I sold it to. I sold Spot when I simply needed the money. I visit the owner from time to time, and I took it to the range a few years ago. The tritium tubes were nearly dead but it was still a tack driver, and I have never fired any gun better than I fired Spot.

I see contributors to the forum often referring to their guns as "she" or "her." I never thought of my guns as being of either sex, so have always just referred to them as "it" and "them".

I feel the same way about airplanes. I have some 13,000 hours flight time, including 311 combat missions, but always considered planes as a means to an end, not living entities. Except planes with radial engines. THOSE engines are alive . . ..

Cute idea. If it adds even a little enjoyment to the hobby, then why the heck not.

If I wasn't already calling my children and grands the wrong names, I might be tempted to do something similar.

It's not that you name your guns, it's what you name them that concerns me. I guess as long as you don't use dudes names, it's ok. ��

Hmmm. I haven't named any of my Smiths or my Ruger 10/22.

But I did name my Browning pellet pistol: Deadly! Even young gophers know they want nothing to do with this one.

As an aside I really like Nikki. Gorgeous.

I think naming guns is creepy.

Some of the other guns that I have named are the ones I use in Cowboy Action Shooting.

I have two braces of single action revolvers named:
First brace: Dead and Buried
Second brace: Hellfire and Brimstone.

My rifle I call: Perdition.

My shotgun: Big Ugly.

Oh, and all members in the Single Action Shooting Society give themselves an alias. I'm Birdgun Quail.

It's all in lighthearted good fun.

God bless,
Birdgun

Don't want to deal with hurt feelings if I should pay more attention to one than another.